Musical Love.by That_One_Bat_PonyChaptersChapter 1: First wobbly steps [Revised]Chapter 2: The ApartmentChapter 3: It Felt RightChapter 4: ActingChapter 1: First wobbly steps [Revised]As I sit there in my little booth closed off from the rest of the world I let out a long exhausted sigh. My head throbs as I squint and struggle to see the room through my purple tinted shades. “I need to stop doing more than two all-nighters in a row.” I mumble to myself as I take another sip from my drink. I glance around the bar, checking to see if there’s anypony I recognize. Out of the corner of my eye I spot a light grey mare in a pink bowtie sipping crimson liquid from a wine glass in the corner. “Hey wait, I think I know her.” I think to myself. “Yeah she’s that cellist for the Canterlot Orchestra right? What was her name?” After pondering on the thought for a few minutes I can’t recall the mare’s name, or really anything about her besides her job. “This is going to bother me for the rest of the night if I don’t remember her name.” I say inwardly. “Screw it.” I mumble. “I’ll just go ask her, what's the worst that could happen.” I finish off the little bit of bourbon left in my glass and stand up, a little unevenly. I get out of my booth and start to make my way over to the grey mare. I’ve been drinking for a long time so I can still walk mostly straight once I stand up. “Hey!” I say, with a little more energy than I meant to as I approach the grey mare's table. “Um, hey?” The mare replies cautiously, giving me a once over with her eyes. “Sorry to bother you, but aren’t you that cellist from the Canterlot Orchestra?” The mare lets out a suppressed sigh before responding. “Yes, that’s me.” “Thought so.” I say more to myself than to her. “You see I’ve been sitting over at my table for about five minutes trying to remember your name and I can’t for the life of me figure it out. Do you mind telling me, it’s going to bother me the rest of the night if I can’t remember it.” A small smile appears on the grey mare's lips and she puts a hoof over it to try and hide it. “Yeah sure, it’s Octavia, Octavia Melody.” she give me another look and the expression on her face changes, “Oh right.” I say, the thought finally coming back to me. “How could I forget such a pretty name?” A faint red hue appears on Octavia’s face but I’m too busy mentally kicking myself to notice. “Thanks, I really appreciate you entertaining my drunk mission.” I turn to start walking away when a voice stops me. “Hey.” Octavia says. “You’re Vinyl Scratch right.” “Um, yeah.” I let out, a little surprised. “But most people don’t know me by that name, most people just know my stage name.” Now I was curious. "Have we met before? How does she know my real name?" I wonder to myself. “Yeah but DJ Pon-3 just sounds so weird to say in a normal conversation.” “I suppose you have a point.” I reply, absentmindedly taking a seat across from Octavia in her booth. “But that still doesn’t answer where you learned it.” “Oh that. I actually went to one of your shows a couple weeks ago, you were hitting on this stallion at the bar and told him your real name. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but to be fair you were shouting rather loudly.” My hear drops in my chest. "The time lines seems right." I think to myself before asking. “Oh Celestia. Was that at the Lights and Liquor Club?” “Yeah I think so, it was a Saturday.” “Yeah I was afraid of that.” I put my head in my hooves and sigh. “That was one of my lowest points. That week I had been up for eight days with six hours of sleep. I was in the hospital for two days due to exhaustion after that night. I promised myself I’d stop pulling so many gigs so close together.” “I don’t know how you do it. I’ve only been up for two days and I’m so tired that I almost visibly cringed when you came up and I thought I’d have to sign another autograph.” “Honestly I didn’t even know orchestra members needed to sign autographs aside from at their actual shows.” I say with a chuckle. “They’re rare, but every now and then someone will recognize me and approach asking for one.” Octavia says waving at the bartender to come bring over another bottle of wine. “But I have to say, I think you’re the first pony to approach me because you weren’t sure who I was.” “Yeah, I still feel kind of bad about forgetting your name. Although I have to say I’m surprised we haven’t talked before, we both work in the music industry.” I finish, as the bartender places the new bottle on the table along with a second wine glass. “True, but we do work in very different fields.” Octavia uncorks the battle and fills both the glasses. She fills the first glass up a little more than I think a wine glass is supposed to be and the second with a more normal amount. As Octavia slides the second one over to me my brain finally catches up to what’s going on. “I’ve never really had someone to drink with before.” I think as I take the glass from Octavia’s hoof. “I guess you have a point, but I still feel like we would have hit it off if we’d met at an event before.” I say, taking my first sip of wine. “I’m not so sure.” Octavia states taking a large gulp from her glass. “This is much more relaxed than I usually am at events. If you met me out in a more public setting, chances are my formalness would cause you to get bored really quickly.” “I don’t know. You have a really soft soothing voice, I feel like I wouldn’t really care what you said, I’d just like listening to you talk.” Another deeper blush flashes across Octavia's muzzle and this time I notice. “Hey you okay?” “Y-you really are d-drunk.” Octavia says, raising her hoof to cover her face. “Hey.” I say drunkenly, swatting my hoof in Octavia’s direction. “Don’t hide your pretty eyes, it’s a waste.” my brain freezes for a minute as it processes what I just said and thinks back to some of my other comments. “Oh I see.” I glance up to look Octavia in the eye. “I really am drunk.” I giggle to myself at the mistake. “Sorry, I get like this when I have a buzz going” “Don’t worry about it.” Octavia assures me. “I just…” Octavia pauses for a long moment seemingly lost in thought. “I don’t take compliments well.” “Really?” I ask, a bit confused. “But don't you have fans and stuff?” “Th-that’s different.” Octavia defends. “I work really hard to play music so I take pride in those compliments. But when it’s about my appearance I feel like I didn’t earn those compliments.” “What?” I ask. “Do you really expect me to believe that you look like this with NO effort?” “Well, I guess not.” Octavia lets out a small chuckle. “Thanks Vinyl, I think I actually needed to hear that.” “Don’t mention it, you deserve to have at least one pony recognize the work you put into everything you do.” I glance around the bar at the decreasing number of patrons. “You wanna get out of here?” Octavia jerks in her chair, spilling a bit of wine on the table and a deep red blush comes over her face. “WHAT!?” I tilt my head to the side and give Octavia a puzzled look. “Uhh… this place is starting to die down. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to go somewhere else to keep talking?” “Oh…” Octavia lets out. “O-okay. Yeah, let's find somewhere else to go and talk.” I stand up and hold my hoof out and offer it to Octavia. “Well then, shall we?” “Alright.” Octavia says, a faint pink glow burning in her cheeks. As I walk out the door, Octavian's foreleg hooked around mine I feel the cold breeze hit my face instantly helping me sober up. “So, where do you want to go?” As Octavia thinks I see a brief spark of mischief in her eyes, but can’t quite place why. “My Apartment isn’t far from here, maybe a three minute walk. I don’t have any alcohol there, but I can make us some tea.” “Yeah, that sounds nice.” I say, a small smile crawling across my lips at the thought of a nice quiet night inside talking. “Really?” Octavia asks curiously. “You offered, didn't you?” I ask in a playful tone. “Y-yes of course.” Octavia corrects herself. “I just wasn’t sure you would accept, you don’t really seem like the tea drinking type, no offense.” “None taken.” I assure her. “And you’re not completely wrong, I really don’t drink tea very often. But the reason behind that is more ‘I don’t have time.’ than ‘I don’t like it.’ I do enjoy a nice cup of tea or coffee on a slow quiet night like this.” “Well then.” Octavia starts, jerking her head in the direction up the street and tugging on my arm. “Shall we?” She asks with a playful giggle. “Yes. let's go.” Chapter 2: The ApartmentAs me and Octavia walk down the street I can’t help but get a little excited at the thought of getting to see where she lives. Octavia is a lot more of an upper class mare than me, so I’m curious to see how differently we live. “We’re here.” Octavia announces, breaking me out of my thoughts. I glance up to see a small apartment building in front of us. “This is where you live.” I ask, a bit of disbelief in my voice at the thought of Octavia living in a perfectly normal apartment. “Yes.” Octavia says, walking forward towards the front door. “I thought you’d live somewhere, fancier.” “Don’t worry you’re not the first pony to think that actually.” Octavia reassures me as we step through the front door of the building. We take a right and start walking up a small flight of stairs. “A lot of ponies think playing in the orchestra pays a lot more than it does.” Octavia finishes as we reach the top of the staircase and arrive on the third floor. Octavia reaches into her white collar and pulls out a small key before using it to unlock the door. Octavia puts the key back and walks inside. “I’ve been trying to find a roommate so I can afford a nicer place, but it’s hard to trust most ponies around here. At least back in Ponyville I would have been comfortable with almost anypony, but Ponyville is too far away from all the other cities to justify living there.” “Just be thankful rent here in Detrot isn’t as bad as Canterlot or Manehattan.” I say letting out a small laugh. And stepping inside the small but nice looking apartment. Octavia walks behind me and locks the door before moving into what looks like the kitchen area. “Tell me about it.” Octavia grumbles. I take the time to look around while Octavia’s in the kitchen. The Apartment isn’t very special. The place has an open floor plan. The front door led right into the living room with a small couch and a TV mounted on the wall. On the right is an open doorway leading to the kitchen. Ahead is a small hallway leading to three closed doors, presumably the bedroom, the bathroom, but I can’t figure out where the third door would lead. Right before the hallway is a small dining area with an open archway also leading into the kitchen. “The first time I went to find a place in Canterlot I almost punched the landlord when he said one month of my salary covered two weeks of rent.” I hear as I zone back into what Octavia is talking about. “Oh I feel that.” I say walking over to stand in the kitchen doorway and watch Octavia work. “First apartment I lived in was in Manehattan. It was a three bedroom one bath that me and three other ponies shared. Which means there was a total of four of us. Each pony got a bedroom except Dream Coat, they were the one who ended up needing to sleep in the living room because they paid the least amount of the rent and bills.” “I don’t think I could handle living with three other mares for that long.” Octavia says placing the kettle on the stove. “I'd probably end up pulling my hair out.” “Oh no, it was me and three stallions.” I say taking a seat at the small two pony table in the corner of the kitchen. “Really?” Octavia asks, a bit of concern in her voice. “Yeah they were all Colts I knew back in school, which meant they had known me long enough to not touch any of my stuff unless they wanted me to beat their flank. “Oh, that actually makes sense.” Octavia says absentmindedly. “What do you mean?” I ask, a bit confused. “In the short time that I’ve known you, that definitely seems like something you would do.” Octavia states placing a few herbs in the kettle that was heating on the stove.. “Ow, I’ve already made the impression that I’m the violent type eh?” I say joking trying to get a reaction out of Octavia. “Oh. no no no.” Octavia stumbles trying to salvage her image. “I didn’t mean it like that you just…” “Relax Tavie.'' I say, getting up trotting over and to place a hoof on her shoulder. “I was just playing around. What are you so stressed about?” “I… I just don’t want to ruin your impression of me.” Octavia Clarifies. “I have a bad habit of putting ponies off from me because I’m not the best at reading situations, and sometimes my jokes come off as just mean.” “And you think one little comment is going to shatter the way I see you?” I reach out with my magic and pull the whistling kettle off the stove and set it on the counter. “Just relax. Let’s sit down with some tea and talk okay.” Octavia lets out a small chuckle. “Sorry. I just overreact sometimes. I hope you’ll forgive my loss of composure.” Octavia mixes a few more spices into the kettle and sets it on a small tray with the other tea supplies. Octavia picks up the tray in her hooves and puts it over on the small circular table just in the other room. “Hey, don’t forget we’re both quite a bit drunk, the cold air sobered us up a bit, but we’re still not at 100%.” I walk into the other room and take my place at the table. “I guess you make a good point.” Octavia takes her seat and begins pouring the tea. “Can I ask you something?” “Sure.” I say, taking my cup from Octavia with my magic. “Did you really call me Tavie earlier?” I think about it for a second and remember what she’s talking about. “Oh, I guess I did. Do you… not want me to call you that?” “Oh no, I don’t have a problem with it, I just wasn’t sure where you got it from.” “Nowhere really, it was just the only abbreviation for Octavia I could think of. No offence but your name’s a little long.” “I get it, but it’s not very fair, is it? I can’t really shorten your name. Vinyl can only really be shortened to Vi, but Vi definitely doesn’t suit you. I’d have to give you an actual pet name to really shorten it.” “You mean a nickname?” I Ask. Once again that red hue peaks through Octavia’s grey coat. “Yeah a nickname, that’s what I meant.” I finally pick up my cup and take a slow sip from the lightly steaming liquid. “What kind of nickname would you give me anyway?” “I don’t know,” Octavia says, taking a sip from her own cup, “Vinyl already suits you perfectly, I don’t think you need a Nickname.” “Can I still call you Tavie?” I ask, giving a gentle smile. Tavie smiles and lets out a small breath. “I think I’d like that.” Chapter 3: It Felt Right“I’m curious.” Tavie says, taking a sip from her teacup. “Why don’t you take off your sunglasses? It's not very bright in here, I can’t imagine you can see very well.” “I…” I pause a moment wondering if I should just tell her. “Better to not say too much.” I think to myself. “I only take them off in front of ponies I’m really comfortable with. None of my one night stands have even seen me with them off.” “You don’t feel comfortable with me?” Tavie asks in a sad tone. “Tavie, we're talking only five ponies here.” I say, holding up my hoof to tap on as I count. “There’s my mom, my dad. My sister, my best friend. And…” I quickly cut myself off and correct my speech. ”Not even, it's just those four. No one else has seen.” Tavie flashes a confused look for a second, but it disappears before she talks. “I get it, please forgive me if I seemed like I was pressuring you.” Tavie picks up her tea cup and places it on the tray next to the empty tea pot. I finish off mine and place it on the tray as well. “Don’t sweat it, a lot of ponies ask about them.” I follow Tavie into the kitchen and move towards the other door. “I guess I should get going.” “Oh, I suppose it is getting quite late, can you get back to your place alright?” Tavie sets the tea set in the sink and turns to look at me. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I wait a moment before asking. “Hey, can I use your bathroom before I go?” “Sure” Tavie walks up next to me and points a hoof down the hall of doors. “It's that door on the right.” “Thanks, I’ll be quick.” I walk down the hallway and duck into the right door, locking it behind it. Once in the privacy of the bathroom I let out a sigh and look in the mirror. “What are you doing?” I ask myself as I remove my glasses. I gaze into the mirror, my crimson eyes piercing right back into me, the small scar on my left eye making it appear more red.. “Damn it. What do I do?” I wonder, tightening my grip on my shades. I eventually let out a sigh, put my glasses back on, and walk out the door. I walk back up toward the front door where Tavie is still standing. “You waited?” I ask in a somewhat surprised tone. Tavie fidgets with her hooves slightly. “I wanted to see you off.” She then moves out of the way, opening the door behind her. “Have a safe trip home.” “I’m going to regret this.” I say, much to Tavie’s confusion. I then in one swift motion pull Octavia in for a deep passionate kiss. Despite the mild tea we just had, her mouth had so much flavor. There were so many conflicting emotions for what I was doing, but I didn’t care, I could only focus on her taste. Then, just as quickly as it started, I pulled away, walked out the door, and shut it tight behind me, not saying a single word. “Usually I’d just take her there.” I think to myself as I descend the stairs. “One night stands are simple, but something felt so wrong about doing that, but at the same time, leaving without doing anything even though she was clearly into me also felt really wrong.” I let out a sigh as I push the front door of the apartment building open. “I need to figure out what to do next time I see her.” * * * As the electronic beats pound in my head and through my hooves, the bright lights flashing and shining in my eye I feel alive. Unfortunately I only have two songs left until my show ends and I have to go home for the night. I’ve always loved my work, I really do, but if I do too much then I crash and burn out. As my current song winds down and I get ready to put on my next one, I notice a familiar face in the crowd. “Why is she here?” I think to myself, trying to avoid looking at the mare. “I just need to finish my last song and then I can slip out of the club before she tries to talk to me.” I solidify my plan and switch out my records to start my last song. “How’s everyone’s night going!?” I call to the crowd, trying to get them to make some noise, which I receive in bulk. “We’re running low on time here, so this will be the last song of the night, so make this last dance count.” I call out. “all I have to do is act normal, if she thinks I don’t know she’s here then I have a better chance of slipping out.” I think to myself as I start up the last song. As the song plays I don’t add in as many extra touches as I usually do, instead I subtly pack up most of my equipment under the table. Thankfully I didn’t have to bring my own turntable to this club otherwise there’d be no avoiding a certain somepony. As the song starts coming to a close I get ready to head straight for the door, hoping to avoid any uncomfortable conversations. The second the song ends I carefully grab my last two records in my magic along with everything else and go out on to the dance floor. I take a glance around and my stomach knots. “I lost sight of her, damn this isn’t good.” I think, tightening my grip on my bags. I see a break in the crowd and decide it’s better to just bolt for the exit than worry about where the mare slipped off to. I trot toward the door though the crowd and manage to make it off the dance floor. “Hey Vinyl” I hear a familiar voice say, a hoof landing on my shoulder. “Long time no see, I missed you.” “Foal of a bitch.” I curse in my head, a phrase I hardly ever use, but at this moment I was so pissed I probably would have used any curse or slur. But I manage to keep my composure and simply turn to face the mare. Saying in an even, deadpan tone. “What do you want, Golden Bass?” Author's Note A/N In case it wasn't obvious because of the music thing Golden Bass is pronounced Golden Base. Chapter 4: ActingGolden Bass, my Canterlot ex-marefriend. She’s a drummer that I dated a long time ago, but despite her choice in instrument, shes still as uppity, snobby, and prissy as almost any other Canterlot mare, but with one key difference. Golden Bass was certifiably insane. “What? Can’t I just say hello to an old friend?” Golden Bass asks, giving me that plastic smile she thought she was so good at, but you could always tell what she was really thinking. Now I was pissed, but despite how much I’ve changed I still instinctually clench my hoof. she thought she could just waltz into one of my gigs and act like we were friends. It took everything I had not to go off on her. “We’re not friends, we were barely even acquaintances.” I say, trying to get an idea of why she was here. Now Golden Bass was mad, she shoots me one those trademark scowls she always put on when she didn’t get what she wanted. “Oh real mature Vi, you…” “Don’t call me that!” I snap, almost growling at her, instantly feeling a twitch of fear after the outburst. “You lost the right to call me anything a long time ago, it’s DJ Pon3 to you, just everypony else.” I say, in a more calm manner. “Thank Celestia.” I hear another familiar voice call from behind me. I turn around to look at Octavia standing a few feet behind me, walking over. “I thought you already left. You got off the stage so quickly I lost sight of you. I was worried I wouldn’t get to you in time.” At that moment I suddenly get an idea of how to get away from this situation and decide to go for it. “I’m sorry babe,” I say walking over to Tavie. “I knew you were getting back tonight so I was trying to get home on time to have dinner with you.” I then plant a small peck on Tavie’s cheek, her face flushing. I then brush my cheek against hers to position my muzzle right next to her ear. “Please just play along. I’ll explain later, but I really need your help.” Tavie glances down at me and flashes a warm smile that turns more to worry when she sees my face. “Don’t apologize, it was my fault. I wanted to come and surprise you, although in hindsight maybe I should have told you I was here before you finished your last song.” Tavie then glances over at Golden Bass. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Octavia Melody, you are? Golden Bass eyes Tavie for a moment, obvious skepticism written all over her face. After a moment of her gauging Tavie, she extends a hoof out, inviting Tavie to shake it. “I’m Golden Bass, I’m one of Vinyl’s old friends.” I clench Tavies hoof that I had grabbed onto when I hear those words. Golden Bass lowers her hoof after Tavie didn’t make move to shake it. ”And who might you be to Vinyl?” she asks, a sinister grin spreading across her face. “As I said I’m Octavia Melody” This time Tavie’s the one to extend a hoof forward. “I’m Vinyl’s marefriend. It’s nice to meet you, Golden Bass.” Golden Bass takes a few steps forward and shakes Tavie’s hoof. “Sorry to cut this short.” Tavie starts, shifting to wrap the forehoof I was grasping, around my shoulder. “But tonight is one of my nights off and the Orchestra doesn’t give me many of those. I’d like to get home and recharge with my little ball of energy here.” Tavie nuzzles my cheek and sticks her muzzle in my hair, making a point of sniffing loudly and giggling. Golden Bass’ eyes go wide and the hairs on her back seem to bristle and I can’t help but flinch at the sight. Tavie looks back over at her, returning the glare Golden Bass was now shooting her. “So we’re gonna get going, unless you have a problem with that.” Now, thanks to our close contact, I could feel the instant Tavie’s fur started bristling slightly as well, her grip on my shoulder tightening slightly, but not enough to hurt at all.. Golden Bass grits her teeth and flings her head to the side. “No go ahead, have a nice night.” She says in a normal even tone before turning her head back to watch us leave. “Time to go home babe.” Tavie says, escorting me out of the building. We walk through the front door, and the second the fresh cold night air hits me, I let out the breath I didn’t even realise I was holding. As the breath leaves me I feel something else rising with it. “Oh god.” I say, running over to the nearby bushes before throwing up. I wipe my face off with one of towels sticking out of my equipment bag that I usually use for my sweat. “Come with me.” Tavie says, putting her leg around me and walking me up the street. “Actually my house is the other way.” I correct, Putting the towel back in one of the bags, trying to get Tavie to stop. “Not tonight It’s not.” Tavie says, forcing me to keep trotting next to her. “You’re coming back to my place.” “What?” I ask, trying to figure out what exactly is happening. “Why? I really need to get home and put my equipment away.” I levitate one of the bags closer and give it a small shake. “No!” Tavie lets go of me and shouts, catching me off guard. “You not only owe me an explanation for whatever the Tartarus just happened.” Tavie then lowers her voice and leans into me. “But we also don’t know if that mare is following us, from the way you looked in front of her, I’m assuming she’s the kind of pony who would do that.” “Definitely.” I admit letting out a sigh. “And you’re right, I did promise you an explanation. I can’t just dump a situation like that on you and then leave, but can that talk wait until we get home?” “Sure.” Tavie agrees, moving a little closer to me. “In the meantime…” Tavie flutters her eyelashes at me. “How about we change the topic. I know, we can talk about that kiss you gave me the other day.” My face flushes a bit at the mention of my previous deed and I look away from Tavie. “Well, uh…” I struggle with my speech for a bit, trying to find the right words to use. “Come on Vinyl, now is not the time for this, you just ran into… her, and you can’t deal with this right now..” I berate myself in my mind, trying not to appear too shaken. “Sorry, but can that wait for a different day? I don’t want to think about it right now.” I ask, glancing back over at Tavie. Tavie deflates a bit and looks away from me. “I guess.” It takes everything I have not to let out a heavy sigh at the sound of the disappointment in her voice. “I have something we can talk about though.” I shift my head around so I can look Tavie in the eye. “Why were you at my show looking for me?” Tavie lets out an adorable squeak and averts her gaze from mine. “Well, I wanted to know what exactly was going on between us. Also…” Tavie looks up at me and makes eye contact, a blush coming over her face. “I missed you.” “I missed you, I missed you, I missed you, I missed you.” I hear the echoing of Golden Bass’ words in my head and my blood runs cold. “No, Tavie is nothing like her. Get a hold of yourself Vinyl.” I think, raising a hoof to feel my chest. “Your breathing is shallow and your head is throbbing.” I try to stabilize my breathing when I feel a hoof on the back of my shoulder once again. I swing my hoof up to smack it away and I immediately feel the sting on my foreleg. “DON’T TOUCH ME!” I shout, glaring at Gold- “Octavia…?” I thought my blood ran cold before, but now it’s ice cold and every blood vessel in my body hurts with a frosty and bitter sting. Octavia's face is one of pure shock, and worry. “Wait, I didn't mean to.” I say in an almost inaudible tone. “Let me explain.” Octavia doesn’t make a move, she just stands there staring at me. “Y-you hit me.” Octavia manages to say. “No wait, I didn’t realize. I thought you were her and-” “Her?” Octavia interrupts me. “Her who? That mare back at the club? I knew you looked uncomfortable back there, but this is extreme. Who the Tartarus was that, that you’d react like that?” I once again try to steady my breathing and calm down a bit. “She’s my e-” I choke on my words and lose my composure. “My ex-marefriend.” I say as quickly as possible. Octavia just blinks, once, twice, thrice. “What!?” she finally screeches after processing the information. “What did she do to you?” “She…” I raise a hoof up and place it on my left lens. “I trusted her, and she betrayed that trust.” I let out a sigh and lower my hoof. “She was the fifth pony to see me without my show glasses on, and she made me regret it.” Octavia walks up and extends a hoof towards me, hesitating to touch me. Feeling impatient I take a step forward and nuzzle her hoof with my cheek. Then, to my surprise, Tavie gives me a small smile before wrapping her hoof around the back of my neck and pulling me into a kiss so gentle I feel like I can just float there and be perfectly fine. This kiss is different then the first, this one isn’t one sided. Not only is Octavia kissing me, but without even realising it I had wrapped both my forehooves around Tavie and kissed her back. After what feels like forever and yet not nearly long enough, Tavie pulls away from me, taking in a few gasps for air. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that.” Tavie raises a hoof and wipes a small strand of saliva from her lower lip. “But consider me pleasantly surprised.” “Me too.” I say, reluctantly taking my hooves off Tavie. “It’s a shame though.” Tavie says, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof. “I had this whole, ‘gentle kiss’ thing planned out in my head to help comfort you and calm you down. But the kiss was more ‘intense’ than I had expected and I completely forgot about it.” “Sorry I ruined your plan, but we should get going.” I look over my shoulder back at the club entrance. “I want to get out of here before Golden Bass comes out here.” “Agreed.” Tavie says, her smile falling into one far more serious and concerned. “I really didn’t care for that mare.” Tavie walks over to stand beside me and nudges me to start walking. I comly and she follows along next to me. “I know there’s a lot we don’t know about each other, but I want you to know you can trust my Vinyl. That being said,” Tavie frowns and looks down at the ground. “I don’t want you to feel like I want to know everything. You have a right to keep things to yourself and have secrets, I won’t pressure you to tell me anything you’re not comfortable with, okay? “You can’t be sure of that.” I say. “You never know what will happen, if you get curious about something it’s only natural to try and figure it out.” As I finish talking Tavie pulls me into a dark alleyway. “What are you doing?” I ask, more confused than concerned, “Short cut.” Tavie simply says. “This is the quickest way back to my apartment, it only takes about five minutes going through here.” “Really?” I wonder to myself. “Wasn’t Tavie’s apartment on the other side of Detrot? Something seems off.” I continue to follow Tavie through the back alleys looking at the various pieces of graffiti. Eventually we come up on an open street. “Where are we?” I ask, glancing up and down the street and at what seemes to be an antique store in front of us. “This is my home.” Tavie says, smiling widely. “What about the apartment from the other night?” “Well…” Tavie says, fidgeting with her bow tie. “I might have two.” “What happened to 'The Canterlot Orchestra not paying as much as I think’ hmm?” I ask, in an accusatory tone similar to a parent who caught their foal telling a lie. “Yeah, about that.” Tavie looks down at her hooves. “I get paid very well, actually. I use the apartment from before to have guests and meetings, it’s not a waste though, there is another mare that I split the rent with, she lives there. This one though…” Tavie gestures at the floor above the antique store. “This is where I live, home sweet home.” Tavie walks up to the front door and pulls a different key out of her collar than she had the previous night, Turning the handle Tavie walks in and I follow behind. “Are we supposed to be in here?” I ask glancing around at all the little trinkets. “Yeah, the staircase to my apartment is in the back room.” Tavie brushes the beads hanging from a doorway in the back out of her way. “I’m good friends with the store owner, she’s the mare I rent from, she lives in the basement because she loves the cold.” “I get that.” I say, glancing around and following Tavie up the stairs. At the top of the stairs is another door and Tavie pulls out yet another key. “I hope you don’t mind, but this apartment isn’t as tidy as the show one I took you to last time.” Tavie turns the key in the lock and the door creaks open, revealing a mess of a living room. Papers of sheet music are strewn over the coffee table and the couch, on the floor are various food containers and drink cups, and different pieces of clothing are scattered around. “Not as tidy?” I ask sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. Tavie turns around to glare at me as I kick the door shut, continuing to walk forward. “Okay so maybe this is more dirty than I care to admit.” Tavie picks up a few pieces of clothes from around the couch and tosses them over near a door in the corner I’m guessing leads to her bedroom. “I don’t really let anyone in so…” “Is this lingerie?” I say, cutting Tavie off and holding up a skimpy looking, black, see through piece of clothing. Tavie screams, not yelps, eeps, gasps, or squeeks, but full on screams as she rushes over and snatches the clothing from my hand. “Don’t touch that.” Tavie chastises me. She walks over to the door with the pile in front of it and tosses the undergarments into the room and shuts the door once more. “I’m not judging you, you just don’t seem like the type to…” “I’M NOT!” Tavie cuts me off this time. “I bought them out of curiosity. I didn’t like the way they looked on me though, so I just tossed them wherever, I didn’t realise they were out here.” Tavie regains her composure before speaking once again. “Besides, I believe we’re here to talk about you, not me.” I contemplate if I want to try and stall for a little more time, but ultimately I decide against it. “You're right, where should I start..” I relent with a sigh, walking over and taking a seat on the couch. Tavie just walks into the open kitchen to the left of the living room, not paying my question any mind. After a moment she comes back with a big trash bag. “I’m going to pick up some of this garbage while you decide where you want to start.” Tavie does just that and starts picking up a bunch of the random food and drink containers making sure to not accidentally throw away any papers. “Thanks Tavie.” I say, a soft smile gracing my lips, but the happiness was short lived. “Golden Bass…” I start, pausing a minute to swallow the lump in my throat. “She was my mare friend back when I lived in Canterlot.” “Wait.” Tavie blurts out, her head shooting up. “You lived in Canterlot!?” “Yeah.” I say evenly, not sure why Tavie is freaking out. “Is there something wrong with that?” “No. it’s just… I’m surprised, you don’t really seem like the Canterlot type.” I raise my brow and Tavie throws her hooves up to defend herself. “Wait, wait. That came out wrong. What I mean is, you don’t seem like you’d deal with most of those rich snobs.” “Unfortunately, I was technically one of those rich snobs.” I say, taking a moment to remember some of my days back in Canterlot Academy. I cringe at the thought and put my focus back on Tavie, who I now realise is laughing in my face. “What?” “I, I just can’t imagine you like that. Holding your nose in the air, flaunting your wealth.” Tavie covers her mouth and starts violently choking. “Wear-wearing fluffy dresses.” she manages to wheeze out. “For the record I look hot in any dress.” I tease. I take a moment to try and gather my thoughts. “Should we get back on topic? We can talk about my family and my Canterlot roots another time.” “Yes, yes, you were saying.” Tavie holds up her hoof and gestures for me to keep going as she walks over to the couch and sits next me. “Everything started back in Canterlot academy, there I met the pony I thought I would spend the rest of my life with, oh how wrong I was. Her name was Golden Bass.”
Chapter 1: First wobbly steps [Revised]As I sit there in my little booth closed off from the rest of the world I let out a long exhausted sigh. My head throbs as I squint and struggle to see the room through my purple tinted shades. “I need to stop doing more than two all-nighters in a row.” I mumble to myself as I take another sip from my drink. I glance around the bar, checking to see if there’s anypony I recognize. Out of the corner of my eye I spot a light grey mare in a pink bowtie sipping crimson liquid from a wine glass in the corner. “Hey wait, I think I know her.” I think to myself. “Yeah she’s that cellist for the Canterlot Orchestra right? What was her name?” After pondering on the thought for a few minutes I can’t recall the mare’s name, or really anything about her besides her job. “This is going to bother me for the rest of the night if I don’t remember her name.” I say inwardly. “Screw it.” I mumble. “I’ll just go ask her, what's the worst that could happen.” I finish off the little bit of bourbon left in my glass and stand up, a little unevenly. I get out of my booth and start to make my way over to the grey mare. I’ve been drinking for a long time so I can still walk mostly straight once I stand up. “Hey!” I say, with a little more energy than I meant to as I approach the grey mare's table. “Um, hey?” The mare replies cautiously, giving me a once over with her eyes. “Sorry to bother you, but aren’t you that cellist from the Canterlot Orchestra?” The mare lets out a suppressed sigh before responding. “Yes, that’s me.” “Thought so.” I say more to myself than to her. “You see I’ve been sitting over at my table for about five minutes trying to remember your name and I can’t for the life of me figure it out. Do you mind telling me, it’s going to bother me the rest of the night if I can’t remember it.” A small smile appears on the grey mare's lips and she puts a hoof over it to try and hide it. “Yeah sure, it’s Octavia, Octavia Melody.” she give me another look and the expression on her face changes, “Oh right.” I say, the thought finally coming back to me. “How could I forget such a pretty name?” A faint red hue appears on Octavia’s face but I’m too busy mentally kicking myself to notice. “Thanks, I really appreciate you entertaining my drunk mission.” I turn to start walking away when a voice stops me. “Hey.” Octavia says. “You’re Vinyl Scratch right.” “Um, yeah.” I let out, a little surprised. “But most people don’t know me by that name, most people just know my stage name.” Now I was curious. "Have we met before? How does she know my real name?" I wonder to myself. “Yeah but DJ Pon-3 just sounds so weird to say in a normal conversation.” “I suppose you have a point.” I reply, absentmindedly taking a seat across from Octavia in her booth. “But that still doesn’t answer where you learned it.” “Oh that. I actually went to one of your shows a couple weeks ago, you were hitting on this stallion at the bar and told him your real name. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but to be fair you were shouting rather loudly.” My hear drops in my chest. "The time lines seems right." I think to myself before asking. “Oh Celestia. Was that at the Lights and Liquor Club?” “Yeah I think so, it was a Saturday.” “Yeah I was afraid of that.” I put my head in my hooves and sigh. “That was one of my lowest points. That week I had been up for eight days with six hours of sleep. I was in the hospital for two days due to exhaustion after that night. I promised myself I’d stop pulling so many gigs so close together.” “I don’t know how you do it. I’ve only been up for two days and I’m so tired that I almost visibly cringed when you came up and I thought I’d have to sign another autograph.” “Honestly I didn’t even know orchestra members needed to sign autographs aside from at their actual shows.” I say with a chuckle. “They’re rare, but every now and then someone will recognize me and approach asking for one.” Octavia says waving at the bartender to come bring over another bottle of wine. “But I have to say, I think you’re the first pony to approach me because you weren’t sure who I was.” “Yeah, I still feel kind of bad about forgetting your name. Although I have to say I’m surprised we haven’t talked before, we both work in the music industry.” I finish, as the bartender places the new bottle on the table along with a second wine glass. “True, but we do work in very different fields.” Octavia uncorks the battle and fills both the glasses. She fills the first glass up a little more than I think a wine glass is supposed to be and the second with a more normal amount. As Octavia slides the second one over to me my brain finally catches up to what’s going on. “I’ve never really had someone to drink with before.” I think as I take the glass from Octavia’s hoof. “I guess you have a point, but I still feel like we would have hit it off if we’d met at an event before.” I say, taking my first sip of wine. “I’m not so sure.” Octavia states taking a large gulp from her glass. “This is much more relaxed than I usually am at events. If you met me out in a more public setting, chances are my formalness would cause you to get bored really quickly.” “I don’t know. You have a really soft soothing voice, I feel like I wouldn’t really care what you said, I’d just like listening to you talk.” Another deeper blush flashes across Octavia's muzzle and this time I notice. “Hey you okay?” “Y-you really are d-drunk.” Octavia says, raising her hoof to cover her face. “Hey.” I say drunkenly, swatting my hoof in Octavia’s direction. “Don’t hide your pretty eyes, it’s a waste.” my brain freezes for a minute as it processes what I just said and thinks back to some of my other comments. “Oh I see.” I glance up to look Octavia in the eye. “I really am drunk.” I giggle to myself at the mistake. “Sorry, I get like this when I have a buzz going” “Don’t worry about it.” Octavia assures me. “I just…” Octavia pauses for a long moment seemingly lost in thought. “I don’t take compliments well.” “Really?” I ask, a bit confused. “But don't you have fans and stuff?” “Th-that’s different.” Octavia defends. “I work really hard to play music so I take pride in those compliments. But when it’s about my appearance I feel like I didn’t earn those compliments.” “What?” I ask. “Do you really expect me to believe that you look like this with NO effort?” “Well, I guess not.” Octavia lets out a small chuckle. “Thanks Vinyl, I think I actually needed to hear that.” “Don’t mention it, you deserve to have at least one pony recognize the work you put into everything you do.” I glance around the bar at the decreasing number of patrons. “You wanna get out of here?” Octavia jerks in her chair, spilling a bit of wine on the table and a deep red blush comes over her face. “WHAT!?” I tilt my head to the side and give Octavia a puzzled look. “Uhh… this place is starting to die down. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to go somewhere else to keep talking?” “Oh…” Octavia lets out. “O-okay. Yeah, let's find somewhere else to go and talk.” I stand up and hold my hoof out and offer it to Octavia. “Well then, shall we?” “Alright.” Octavia says, a faint pink glow burning in her cheeks. As I walk out the door, Octavian's foreleg hooked around mine I feel the cold breeze hit my face instantly helping me sober up. “So, where do you want to go?” As Octavia thinks I see a brief spark of mischief in her eyes, but can’t quite place why. “My Apartment isn’t far from here, maybe a three minute walk. I don’t have any alcohol there, but I can make us some tea.” “Yeah, that sounds nice.” I say, a small smile crawling across my lips at the thought of a nice quiet night inside talking. “Really?” Octavia asks curiously. “You offered, didn't you?” I ask in a playful tone. “Y-yes of course.” Octavia corrects herself. “I just wasn’t sure you would accept, you don’t really seem like the tea drinking type, no offense.” “None taken.” I assure her. “And you’re not completely wrong, I really don’t drink tea very often. But the reason behind that is more ‘I don’t have time.’ than ‘I don’t like it.’ I do enjoy a nice cup of tea or coffee on a slow quiet night like this.” “Well then.” Octavia starts, jerking her head in the direction up the street and tugging on my arm. “Shall we?” She asks with a playful giggle. “Yes. let's go.”
Chapter 2: The ApartmentAs me and Octavia walk down the street I can’t help but get a little excited at the thought of getting to see where she lives. Octavia is a lot more of an upper class mare than me, so I’m curious to see how differently we live. “We’re here.” Octavia announces, breaking me out of my thoughts. I glance up to see a small apartment building in front of us. “This is where you live.” I ask, a bit of disbelief in my voice at the thought of Octavia living in a perfectly normal apartment. “Yes.” Octavia says, walking forward towards the front door. “I thought you’d live somewhere, fancier.” “Don’t worry you’re not the first pony to think that actually.” Octavia reassures me as we step through the front door of the building. We take a right and start walking up a small flight of stairs. “A lot of ponies think playing in the orchestra pays a lot more than it does.” Octavia finishes as we reach the top of the staircase and arrive on the third floor. Octavia reaches into her white collar and pulls out a small key before using it to unlock the door. Octavia puts the key back and walks inside. “I’ve been trying to find a roommate so I can afford a nicer place, but it’s hard to trust most ponies around here. At least back in Ponyville I would have been comfortable with almost anypony, but Ponyville is too far away from all the other cities to justify living there.” “Just be thankful rent here in Detrot isn’t as bad as Canterlot or Manehattan.” I say letting out a small laugh. And stepping inside the small but nice looking apartment. Octavia walks behind me and locks the door before moving into what looks like the kitchen area. “Tell me about it.” Octavia grumbles. I take the time to look around while Octavia’s in the kitchen. The Apartment isn’t very special. The place has an open floor plan. The front door led right into the living room with a small couch and a TV mounted on the wall. On the right is an open doorway leading to the kitchen. Ahead is a small hallway leading to three closed doors, presumably the bedroom, the bathroom, but I can’t figure out where the third door would lead. Right before the hallway is a small dining area with an open archway also leading into the kitchen. “The first time I went to find a place in Canterlot I almost punched the landlord when he said one month of my salary covered two weeks of rent.” I hear as I zone back into what Octavia is talking about. “Oh I feel that.” I say walking over to stand in the kitchen doorway and watch Octavia work. “First apartment I lived in was in Manehattan. It was a three bedroom one bath that me and three other ponies shared. Which means there was a total of four of us. Each pony got a bedroom except Dream Coat, they were the one who ended up needing to sleep in the living room because they paid the least amount of the rent and bills.” “I don’t think I could handle living with three other mares for that long.” Octavia says placing the kettle on the stove. “I'd probably end up pulling my hair out.” “Oh no, it was me and three stallions.” I say taking a seat at the small two pony table in the corner of the kitchen. “Really?” Octavia asks, a bit of concern in her voice. “Yeah they were all Colts I knew back in school, which meant they had known me long enough to not touch any of my stuff unless they wanted me to beat their flank. “Oh, that actually makes sense.” Octavia says absentmindedly. “What do you mean?” I ask, a bit confused. “In the short time that I’ve known you, that definitely seems like something you would do.” Octavia states placing a few herbs in the kettle that was heating on the stove.. “Ow, I’ve already made the impression that I’m the violent type eh?” I say joking trying to get a reaction out of Octavia. “Oh. no no no.” Octavia stumbles trying to salvage her image. “I didn’t mean it like that you just…” “Relax Tavie.'' I say, getting up trotting over and to place a hoof on her shoulder. “I was just playing around. What are you so stressed about?” “I… I just don’t want to ruin your impression of me.” Octavia Clarifies. “I have a bad habit of putting ponies off from me because I’m not the best at reading situations, and sometimes my jokes come off as just mean.” “And you think one little comment is going to shatter the way I see you?” I reach out with my magic and pull the whistling kettle off the stove and set it on the counter. “Just relax. Let’s sit down with some tea and talk okay.” Octavia lets out a small chuckle. “Sorry. I just overreact sometimes. I hope you’ll forgive my loss of composure.” Octavia mixes a few more spices into the kettle and sets it on a small tray with the other tea supplies. Octavia picks up the tray in her hooves and puts it over on the small circular table just in the other room. “Hey, don’t forget we’re both quite a bit drunk, the cold air sobered us up a bit, but we’re still not at 100%.” I walk into the other room and take my place at the table. “I guess you make a good point.” Octavia takes her seat and begins pouring the tea. “Can I ask you something?” “Sure.” I say, taking my cup from Octavia with my magic. “Did you really call me Tavie earlier?” I think about it for a second and remember what she’s talking about. “Oh, I guess I did. Do you… not want me to call you that?” “Oh no, I don’t have a problem with it, I just wasn’t sure where you got it from.” “Nowhere really, it was just the only abbreviation for Octavia I could think of. No offence but your name’s a little long.” “I get it, but it’s not very fair, is it? I can’t really shorten your name. Vinyl can only really be shortened to Vi, but Vi definitely doesn’t suit you. I’d have to give you an actual pet name to really shorten it.” “You mean a nickname?” I Ask. Once again that red hue peaks through Octavia’s grey coat. “Yeah a nickname, that’s what I meant.” I finally pick up my cup and take a slow sip from the lightly steaming liquid. “What kind of nickname would you give me anyway?” “I don’t know,” Octavia says, taking a sip from her own cup, “Vinyl already suits you perfectly, I don’t think you need a Nickname.” “Can I still call you Tavie?” I ask, giving a gentle smile. Tavie smiles and lets out a small breath. “I think I’d like that.”
Chapter 3: It Felt Right“I’m curious.” Tavie says, taking a sip from her teacup. “Why don’t you take off your sunglasses? It's not very bright in here, I can’t imagine you can see very well.” “I…” I pause a moment wondering if I should just tell her. “Better to not say too much.” I think to myself. “I only take them off in front of ponies I’m really comfortable with. None of my one night stands have even seen me with them off.” “You don’t feel comfortable with me?” Tavie asks in a sad tone. “Tavie, we're talking only five ponies here.” I say, holding up my hoof to tap on as I count. “There’s my mom, my dad. My sister, my best friend. And…” I quickly cut myself off and correct my speech. ”Not even, it's just those four. No one else has seen.” Tavie flashes a confused look for a second, but it disappears before she talks. “I get it, please forgive me if I seemed like I was pressuring you.” Tavie picks up her tea cup and places it on the tray next to the empty tea pot. I finish off mine and place it on the tray as well. “Don’t sweat it, a lot of ponies ask about them.” I follow Tavie into the kitchen and move towards the other door. “I guess I should get going.” “Oh, I suppose it is getting quite late, can you get back to your place alright?” Tavie sets the tea set in the sink and turns to look at me. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I wait a moment before asking. “Hey, can I use your bathroom before I go?” “Sure” Tavie walks up next to me and points a hoof down the hall of doors. “It's that door on the right.” “Thanks, I’ll be quick.” I walk down the hallway and duck into the right door, locking it behind it. Once in the privacy of the bathroom I let out a sigh and look in the mirror. “What are you doing?” I ask myself as I remove my glasses. I gaze into the mirror, my crimson eyes piercing right back into me, the small scar on my left eye making it appear more red.. “Damn it. What do I do?” I wonder, tightening my grip on my shades. I eventually let out a sigh, put my glasses back on, and walk out the door. I walk back up toward the front door where Tavie is still standing. “You waited?” I ask in a somewhat surprised tone. Tavie fidgets with her hooves slightly. “I wanted to see you off.” She then moves out of the way, opening the door behind her. “Have a safe trip home.” “I’m going to regret this.” I say, much to Tavie’s confusion. I then in one swift motion pull Octavia in for a deep passionate kiss. Despite the mild tea we just had, her mouth had so much flavor. There were so many conflicting emotions for what I was doing, but I didn’t care, I could only focus on her taste. Then, just as quickly as it started, I pulled away, walked out the door, and shut it tight behind me, not saying a single word. “Usually I’d just take her there.” I think to myself as I descend the stairs. “One night stands are simple, but something felt so wrong about doing that, but at the same time, leaving without doing anything even though she was clearly into me also felt really wrong.” I let out a sigh as I push the front door of the apartment building open. “I need to figure out what to do next time I see her.” * * * As the electronic beats pound in my head and through my hooves, the bright lights flashing and shining in my eye I feel alive. Unfortunately I only have two songs left until my show ends and I have to go home for the night. I’ve always loved my work, I really do, but if I do too much then I crash and burn out. As my current song winds down and I get ready to put on my next one, I notice a familiar face in the crowd. “Why is she here?” I think to myself, trying to avoid looking at the mare. “I just need to finish my last song and then I can slip out of the club before she tries to talk to me.” I solidify my plan and switch out my records to start my last song. “How’s everyone’s night going!?” I call to the crowd, trying to get them to make some noise, which I receive in bulk. “We’re running low on time here, so this will be the last song of the night, so make this last dance count.” I call out. “all I have to do is act normal, if she thinks I don’t know she’s here then I have a better chance of slipping out.” I think to myself as I start up the last song. As the song plays I don’t add in as many extra touches as I usually do, instead I subtly pack up most of my equipment under the table. Thankfully I didn’t have to bring my own turntable to this club otherwise there’d be no avoiding a certain somepony. As the song starts coming to a close I get ready to head straight for the door, hoping to avoid any uncomfortable conversations. The second the song ends I carefully grab my last two records in my magic along with everything else and go out on to the dance floor. I take a glance around and my stomach knots. “I lost sight of her, damn this isn’t good.” I think, tightening my grip on my bags. I see a break in the crowd and decide it’s better to just bolt for the exit than worry about where the mare slipped off to. I trot toward the door though the crowd and manage to make it off the dance floor. “Hey Vinyl” I hear a familiar voice say, a hoof landing on my shoulder. “Long time no see, I missed you.” “Foal of a bitch.” I curse in my head, a phrase I hardly ever use, but at this moment I was so pissed I probably would have used any curse or slur. But I manage to keep my composure and simply turn to face the mare. Saying in an even, deadpan tone. “What do you want, Golden Bass?” Author's Note A/N In case it wasn't obvious because of the music thing Golden Bass is pronounced Golden Base.
Chapter 4: ActingGolden Bass, my Canterlot ex-marefriend. She’s a drummer that I dated a long time ago, but despite her choice in instrument, shes still as uppity, snobby, and prissy as almost any other Canterlot mare, but with one key difference. Golden Bass was certifiably insane. “What? Can’t I just say hello to an old friend?” Golden Bass asks, giving me that plastic smile she thought she was so good at, but you could always tell what she was really thinking. Now I was pissed, but despite how much I’ve changed I still instinctually clench my hoof. she thought she could just waltz into one of my gigs and act like we were friends. It took everything I had not to go off on her. “We’re not friends, we were barely even acquaintances.” I say, trying to get an idea of why she was here. Now Golden Bass was mad, she shoots me one those trademark scowls she always put on when she didn’t get what she wanted. “Oh real mature Vi, you…” “Don’t call me that!” I snap, almost growling at her, instantly feeling a twitch of fear after the outburst. “You lost the right to call me anything a long time ago, it’s DJ Pon3 to you, just everypony else.” I say, in a more calm manner. “Thank Celestia.” I hear another familiar voice call from behind me. I turn around to look at Octavia standing a few feet behind me, walking over. “I thought you already left. You got off the stage so quickly I lost sight of you. I was worried I wouldn’t get to you in time.” At that moment I suddenly get an idea of how to get away from this situation and decide to go for it. “I’m sorry babe,” I say walking over to Tavie. “I knew you were getting back tonight so I was trying to get home on time to have dinner with you.” I then plant a small peck on Tavie’s cheek, her face flushing. I then brush my cheek against hers to position my muzzle right next to her ear. “Please just play along. I’ll explain later, but I really need your help.” Tavie glances down at me and flashes a warm smile that turns more to worry when she sees my face. “Don’t apologize, it was my fault. I wanted to come and surprise you, although in hindsight maybe I should have told you I was here before you finished your last song.” Tavie then glances over at Golden Bass. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Octavia Melody, you are? Golden Bass eyes Tavie for a moment, obvious skepticism written all over her face. After a moment of her gauging Tavie, she extends a hoof out, inviting Tavie to shake it. “I’m Golden Bass, I’m one of Vinyl’s old friends.” I clench Tavies hoof that I had grabbed onto when I hear those words. Golden Bass lowers her hoof after Tavie didn’t make move to shake it. ”And who might you be to Vinyl?” she asks, a sinister grin spreading across her face. “As I said I’m Octavia Melody” This time Tavie’s the one to extend a hoof forward. “I’m Vinyl’s marefriend. It’s nice to meet you, Golden Bass.” Golden Bass takes a few steps forward and shakes Tavie’s hoof. “Sorry to cut this short.” Tavie starts, shifting to wrap the forehoof I was grasping, around my shoulder. “But tonight is one of my nights off and the Orchestra doesn’t give me many of those. I’d like to get home and recharge with my little ball of energy here.” Tavie nuzzles my cheek and sticks her muzzle in my hair, making a point of sniffing loudly and giggling. Golden Bass’ eyes go wide and the hairs on her back seem to bristle and I can’t help but flinch at the sight. Tavie looks back over at her, returning the glare Golden Bass was now shooting her. “So we’re gonna get going, unless you have a problem with that.” Now, thanks to our close contact, I could feel the instant Tavie’s fur started bristling slightly as well, her grip on my shoulder tightening slightly, but not enough to hurt at all.. Golden Bass grits her teeth and flings her head to the side. “No go ahead, have a nice night.” She says in a normal even tone before turning her head back to watch us leave. “Time to go home babe.” Tavie says, escorting me out of the building. We walk through the front door, and the second the fresh cold night air hits me, I let out the breath I didn’t even realise I was holding. As the breath leaves me I feel something else rising with it. “Oh god.” I say, running over to the nearby bushes before throwing up. I wipe my face off with one of towels sticking out of my equipment bag that I usually use for my sweat. “Come with me.” Tavie says, putting her leg around me and walking me up the street. “Actually my house is the other way.” I correct, Putting the towel back in one of the bags, trying to get Tavie to stop. “Not tonight It’s not.” Tavie says, forcing me to keep trotting next to her. “You’re coming back to my place.” “What?” I ask, trying to figure out what exactly is happening. “Why? I really need to get home and put my equipment away.” I levitate one of the bags closer and give it a small shake. “No!” Tavie lets go of me and shouts, catching me off guard. “You not only owe me an explanation for whatever the Tartarus just happened.” Tavie then lowers her voice and leans into me. “But we also don’t know if that mare is following us, from the way you looked in front of her, I’m assuming she’s the kind of pony who would do that.” “Definitely.” I admit letting out a sigh. “And you’re right, I did promise you an explanation. I can’t just dump a situation like that on you and then leave, but can that talk wait until we get home?” “Sure.” Tavie agrees, moving a little closer to me. “In the meantime…” Tavie flutters her eyelashes at me. “How about we change the topic. I know, we can talk about that kiss you gave me the other day.” My face flushes a bit at the mention of my previous deed and I look away from Tavie. “Well, uh…” I struggle with my speech for a bit, trying to find the right words to use. “Come on Vinyl, now is not the time for this, you just ran into… her, and you can’t deal with this right now..” I berate myself in my mind, trying not to appear too shaken. “Sorry, but can that wait for a different day? I don’t want to think about it right now.” I ask, glancing back over at Tavie. Tavie deflates a bit and looks away from me. “I guess.” It takes everything I have not to let out a heavy sigh at the sound of the disappointment in her voice. “I have something we can talk about though.” I shift my head around so I can look Tavie in the eye. “Why were you at my show looking for me?” Tavie lets out an adorable squeak and averts her gaze from mine. “Well, I wanted to know what exactly was going on between us. Also…” Tavie looks up at me and makes eye contact, a blush coming over her face. “I missed you.” “I missed you, I missed you, I missed you, I missed you.” I hear the echoing of Golden Bass’ words in my head and my blood runs cold. “No, Tavie is nothing like her. Get a hold of yourself Vinyl.” I think, raising a hoof to feel my chest. “Your breathing is shallow and your head is throbbing.” I try to stabilize my breathing when I feel a hoof on the back of my shoulder once again. I swing my hoof up to smack it away and I immediately feel the sting on my foreleg. “DON’T TOUCH ME!” I shout, glaring at Gold- “Octavia…?” I thought my blood ran cold before, but now it’s ice cold and every blood vessel in my body hurts with a frosty and bitter sting. Octavia's face is one of pure shock, and worry. “Wait, I didn't mean to.” I say in an almost inaudible tone. “Let me explain.” Octavia doesn’t make a move, she just stands there staring at me. “Y-you hit me.” Octavia manages to say. “No wait, I didn’t realize. I thought you were her and-” “Her?” Octavia interrupts me. “Her who? That mare back at the club? I knew you looked uncomfortable back there, but this is extreme. Who the Tartarus was that, that you’d react like that?” I once again try to steady my breathing and calm down a bit. “She’s my e-” I choke on my words and lose my composure. “My ex-marefriend.” I say as quickly as possible. Octavia just blinks, once, twice, thrice. “What!?” she finally screeches after processing the information. “What did she do to you?” “She…” I raise a hoof up and place it on my left lens. “I trusted her, and she betrayed that trust.” I let out a sigh and lower my hoof. “She was the fifth pony to see me without my show glasses on, and she made me regret it.” Octavia walks up and extends a hoof towards me, hesitating to touch me. Feeling impatient I take a step forward and nuzzle her hoof with my cheek. Then, to my surprise, Tavie gives me a small smile before wrapping her hoof around the back of my neck and pulling me into a kiss so gentle I feel like I can just float there and be perfectly fine. This kiss is different then the first, this one isn’t one sided. Not only is Octavia kissing me, but without even realising it I had wrapped both my forehooves around Tavie and kissed her back. After what feels like forever and yet not nearly long enough, Tavie pulls away from me, taking in a few gasps for air. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that.” Tavie raises a hoof and wipes a small strand of saliva from her lower lip. “But consider me pleasantly surprised.” “Me too.” I say, reluctantly taking my hooves off Tavie. “It’s a shame though.” Tavie says, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof. “I had this whole, ‘gentle kiss’ thing planned out in my head to help comfort you and calm you down. But the kiss was more ‘intense’ than I had expected and I completely forgot about it.” “Sorry I ruined your plan, but we should get going.” I look over my shoulder back at the club entrance. “I want to get out of here before Golden Bass comes out here.” “Agreed.” Tavie says, her smile falling into one far more serious and concerned. “I really didn’t care for that mare.” Tavie walks over to stand beside me and nudges me to start walking. I comly and she follows along next to me. “I know there’s a lot we don’t know about each other, but I want you to know you can trust my Vinyl. That being said,” Tavie frowns and looks down at the ground. “I don’t want you to feel like I want to know everything. You have a right to keep things to yourself and have secrets, I won’t pressure you to tell me anything you’re not comfortable with, okay? “You can’t be sure of that.” I say. “You never know what will happen, if you get curious about something it’s only natural to try and figure it out.” As I finish talking Tavie pulls me into a dark alleyway. “What are you doing?” I ask, more confused than concerned, “Short cut.” Tavie simply says. “This is the quickest way back to my apartment, it only takes about five minutes going through here.” “Really?” I wonder to myself. “Wasn’t Tavie’s apartment on the other side of Detrot? Something seems off.” I continue to follow Tavie through the back alleys looking at the various pieces of graffiti. Eventually we come up on an open street. “Where are we?” I ask, glancing up and down the street and at what seemes to be an antique store in front of us. “This is my home.” Tavie says, smiling widely. “What about the apartment from the other night?” “Well…” Tavie says, fidgeting with her bow tie. “I might have two.” “What happened to 'The Canterlot Orchestra not paying as much as I think’ hmm?” I ask, in an accusatory tone similar to a parent who caught their foal telling a lie. “Yeah, about that.” Tavie looks down at her hooves. “I get paid very well, actually. I use the apartment from before to have guests and meetings, it’s not a waste though, there is another mare that I split the rent with, she lives there. This one though…” Tavie gestures at the floor above the antique store. “This is where I live, home sweet home.” Tavie walks up to the front door and pulls a different key out of her collar than she had the previous night, Turning the handle Tavie walks in and I follow behind. “Are we supposed to be in here?” I ask glancing around at all the little trinkets. “Yeah, the staircase to my apartment is in the back room.” Tavie brushes the beads hanging from a doorway in the back out of her way. “I’m good friends with the store owner, she’s the mare I rent from, she lives in the basement because she loves the cold.” “I get that.” I say, glancing around and following Tavie up the stairs. At the top of the stairs is another door and Tavie pulls out yet another key. “I hope you don’t mind, but this apartment isn’t as tidy as the show one I took you to last time.” Tavie turns the key in the lock and the door creaks open, revealing a mess of a living room. Papers of sheet music are strewn over the coffee table and the couch, on the floor are various food containers and drink cups, and different pieces of clothing are scattered around. “Not as tidy?” I ask sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. Tavie turns around to glare at me as I kick the door shut, continuing to walk forward. “Okay so maybe this is more dirty than I care to admit.” Tavie picks up a few pieces of clothes from around the couch and tosses them over near a door in the corner I’m guessing leads to her bedroom. “I don’t really let anyone in so…” “Is this lingerie?” I say, cutting Tavie off and holding up a skimpy looking, black, see through piece of clothing. Tavie screams, not yelps, eeps, gasps, or squeeks, but full on screams as she rushes over and snatches the clothing from my hand. “Don’t touch that.” Tavie chastises me. She walks over to the door with the pile in front of it and tosses the undergarments into the room and shuts the door once more. “I’m not judging you, you just don’t seem like the type to…” “I’M NOT!” Tavie cuts me off this time. “I bought them out of curiosity. I didn’t like the way they looked on me though, so I just tossed them wherever, I didn’t realise they were out here.” Tavie regains her composure before speaking once again. “Besides, I believe we’re here to talk about you, not me.” I contemplate if I want to try and stall for a little more time, but ultimately I decide against it. “You're right, where should I start..” I relent with a sigh, walking over and taking a seat on the couch. Tavie just walks into the open kitchen to the left of the living room, not paying my question any mind. After a moment she comes back with a big trash bag. “I’m going to pick up some of this garbage while you decide where you want to start.” Tavie does just that and starts picking up a bunch of the random food and drink containers making sure to not accidentally throw away any papers. “Thanks Tavie.” I say, a soft smile gracing my lips, but the happiness was short lived. “Golden Bass…” I start, pausing a minute to swallow the lump in my throat. “She was my mare friend back when I lived in Canterlot.” “Wait.” Tavie blurts out, her head shooting up. “You lived in Canterlot!?” “Yeah.” I say evenly, not sure why Tavie is freaking out. “Is there something wrong with that?” “No. it’s just… I’m surprised, you don’t really seem like the Canterlot type.” I raise my brow and Tavie throws her hooves up to defend herself. “Wait, wait. That came out wrong. What I mean is, you don’t seem like you’d deal with most of those rich snobs.” “Unfortunately, I was technically one of those rich snobs.” I say, taking a moment to remember some of my days back in Canterlot Academy. I cringe at the thought and put my focus back on Tavie, who I now realise is laughing in my face. “What?” “I, I just can’t imagine you like that. Holding your nose in the air, flaunting your wealth.” Tavie covers her mouth and starts violently choking. “Wear-wearing fluffy dresses.” she manages to wheeze out. “For the record I look hot in any dress.” I tease. I take a moment to try and gather my thoughts. “Should we get back on topic? We can talk about my family and my Canterlot roots another time.” “Yes, yes, you were saying.” Tavie holds up her hoof and gestures for me to keep going as she walks over to the couch and sits next me. “Everything started back in Canterlot academy, there I met the pony I thought I would spend the rest of my life with, oh how wrong I was. Her name was Golden Bass.”
